Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will meet each other at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi for the first match of Sunday. The teams, in that order, occupy the last two places of the points table and are desperately looking for points to keep their campaign alive. Yesterday’s leadership change in Hyderabad camp, from David Warner to Kane Williamson, may have an impact in this match.
Both Rajasthan and Hyderabad are facing serious issues related to players’ form and fitness. The Royals are now down to exactly four overseas cricketers, in Jos Buttler, David Miller, Chris Morris, and Mustafizur Rahman.
Buttler and Sanju Samson are their main batting options. Samson has demonstrated maturity as wicketkeeper, batter, and captain. He will require the other Indian cricketers, like Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, and Rahul Tewatia, to ensure they keep the scoreboard moving at a fair pace during the middle overs.
Except Morris, Rajasthan’s pace attack has a very one-dimensional look with three left-arm fast bowlers (Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya and Mustafizur). as all are left arm fast bowlers. They can add some variety in their line-up by giving Kartik Tyagi his first outing of the season. They can also replace Unadkat with leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal.
The Sunrisers management has already announced a few changes. They they want to give Warner some time to find his form, and replace him with Williamson or Jason Roy at the top. Instead of Roy, they may also play his namesake, Holder, as a seam bowling all-rounder.
Wriddhiman Saha is an explosive option at the top, but that will mean leaving out one of their middle order Indian batters, Kedar Jadhav or Vijay Shankar.
Like last year, Hyderabad have sorely missed Bhuvneshwar Kumar as the leader of their seam attack. Bhuvneshwar may not recover immediately from his injury, while K Natarajan has undergone surgery. In their absence, Hyderabad have to back Sandeep Sharma, Khaleel Ahmed and Siddarth Kaul in both the Powerplay and at the death.
Rashid Khan will look to control the middle overs and hope to provide key breakthroughs against the inexperienced middle order of the Royals. Jagadeesha Suchith should keep his spot in the eleven as the second spinner.
Head to head
Rajasthan have won 6 matches to Hyderabad’s 7, so there is little to choose from the two sides.
Key players
Sanju Samson (Rajasthan Royals): Samson’s shot selection and temperament have been questioned in the past. However, he has looked to bat deep this time and control the middle overs. His hundred against Punjab Kings was among the finest this season. For the Royals to get back to winning way, Samson needs to play an important role.
Jonny Bairstow (Sunrisers Hyderabad): Bairstow, the best batter for Hyderabad this season, has been the aggressor in the opening partnerships with Warner. Now, with Warner uncertain, Bairstow may have to shoulder added responsibility.
Likely XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shivam Dube, David Miller, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaydev Unadkat, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Jonny Bairstow, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, J Suchith, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed.
Prediction
Royals to get a win against Sunrisers who will require time to settle under the new captain.